Cogs and Gears
by RandyPandy
Summary: A short collection of twenty-five ficlets, all about Quint and how he views the world around him.


A series of short, short fics, based off of twenty-five prompts that I got from various locations.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rockman / Megaman or anything else except for this fanfic.

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**1. Insomnia**

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It wasn't the first night that Quint couldn't sleep. But tonight in particular bothered him. Something about the next day, really bothered him. There was something that was keeping him awake, making him fret about something. He didn't know why, so he just sat there, with his head in his hands, trying to get to sleep. It didn't work. Eventually, he found himself peering in his old room, and just staring at Rock for nearly the entire night.

It wasn't until Quint had adjusted the covers on Rock and had dropped down on his own bed again did he realize that tomorrow, it would be exactly thirty seven point four two six years since Rock had met him.

* * *

**2. Opposites**

* * *

No one would ever guess that the two of them were the exact same person. He was blue. He was green. He was old. He was young. He was happy. He was sad. He was innocent. He was knew too much. He was a child in a child's body. He was an adult trapped in a child's body. He looked forward to the future. He dreaded its occurrence. He was Rock. He was Quint.

Sometimes, even Quint wouldn't be able to believe it.

* * *

**3. Twilight**

* * *

Twilight was a time where change occurs. The sky was very him; blue and cheerful, but also dark and dreary at the same time. Rock personified daytime, for he was completely blue and cheerful, running around like a child, even harassing Quint at times just to annoy him. Then the day became twilight, and once the twilight was over, Rock was gone. Only the night, Quint, existed in his place.

Perhaps one day, the night would end, and it would became twilight again. Then he would finally be free to become day again.

* * *

**4. Touch**

* * *

It was a fascinating feeling, the sense of touch. The majority of people simply take it for granted, not knowing how much those that they created valued that sense. Everything had a different feeling. Metal had a different feel from hair, and pillows had a different feel from wood.

And somehow, he mused sadly, upon giving the other a hug, Rock had a different feel from Quint.

* * *

**5. Eyes**

* * *

Eyes were, as many people said, windows to the soul. You could tell a lot about somebody just by gazing into their eyes. Rock had bright blue eyes. They sparked, they were full of life, and there was a certain innocence in those eyes. They were the kind of eyes that loved everyone and were often loved by everyone, and the ones that had seen hardships yet despite it all, remained optimistic.

Perhaps that was the exact reason Quint always refused to show his eyes and kept them covered up with the blue visor. He didn't want people to see something else in them.

* * *

**6. Loss**

* * *

In less than one day, he had lost possibly the most important thing in his life. He had known that one day, this would happen. However, that did not make his loss any easier. Rock was gone, having finally been kidnapped. He had lost everything in a span of a few hours, and it would take about thirty-seven years to finally reach that point again. But it just wouldn't be the same. It would never be the same again. And upon reaching it, he would lose something else.

Staring down at Rock's empty bed, Quint bitterly cursed destiny for his loss.

* * *

**7. Gravity**

* * *

Gravity was a funny thing. Rock had always had an instinctive fear of gravity, afraid of falling down into a spike pit - not that Quint blamed him. Quint feared gravity, too. So that was why, when Sakugarne dug a pitfall trap, Quint actually cried out in fear as he fell in. Of course, after glaring at and scolding the pogostick, Quint had promptly tried to get his revenge by digging one himself. Sakugarne hopped onto it, and gravity did its job.

Quint decided that while he feared gravity, it can be a fun partner-in-crime, too.

* * *

**8. Question**

* * *

"Hey, Quint?" He turned to the earnest young robot in front of him. "I know you're me from the future and all, and you know all sorts of stuff, right?" The robot nodded, waiting to see what Rock would ask him. "So I think I can ask you this without you getting a little too upset at me for wondering about things too much..." Now Quint remembered exactly what Rock would ask him.

"Is it morally right to hurt someone for something that hasn't happened yet, especially if they did it already? Because I think Dr. Wily deserves to be." The robot didn't answer, instead tightly hugging Rock, blinking back tears.

* * *

**9. Nature**

* * *

It was in his nature to look after himself, even at the cost of his own life. Rock was probably the one person that would ever understand this, and Quint wished it weren't so. Nature... a trait inside a person that was supposedly natural, right? Then why were people so surprised when he said it was in his nature to look after his younger self?

Out of everybody that he had told this to, Rock was the only one that hadn't looked surprised at all.

* * *

**10. Music**

* * *

He'd been surrounded by music his whole life. He'd started off as Rock, with his twin sister and his older brother, and just about everyone in both his family and Dr. Wily's group that weren't normal Robot Masters. Even his name indicated he was part of a quintet. A quintet that originally consisted of four members, before he was added. Rock groups were often Quintets, so it didn't disturb him too much.

He supposed it was fitting that he had managed to perform in Symphony City before going out, even if it wasn't with a bang.

* * *

**11. Animal**

* * *

There'd been a lot of animals in his life. Rush, Tango, and Beat were three that he had known particularly well. He even knew Gospel and Reggae to a certain extent. One thing he had believed would happen, upon getting kidnapped, was that he would never again have the companionship of an animal that he had as Rock.

Upon looking at the cheerful pogostick/jackhammer hybrid that was digging a hole in the backyard to bury something, Quint realized that he was mistaken. He still had a dog.

* * *

**12. Reunion**

* * *

Most people enjoy heading out to reunions, believing that they were reliving most parts of their life from a different perspective. Few could say that they have done that quite literally. Quint happened to be one of the few. The people he met again were not the same people that he knew. Even he himself was different.

Sure, he hated this reunion... but maybe the next one wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

**13. Violence**

* * *

Violence had been a constant normal in his life. But never could he say that he had seen violence like this. Symphony City had been completely destroyed, by R-Shadow. It had survived one of his attacks before, thanks to Rock and Forte, but Quint hadn't been able to stop the other this time. He... really hadn't tried to stop him this time, actually.

He hated the violence. He hated that people believed everything could be solved with violence. Though he wouldn't deny that some things needed to.

* * *

**14. Wild**

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One could see how much a parent could influence their child. Rock, Copy, and R-Shadow were all wild children, having been raised by different people with differing views. Rock, raised by Dr. Light, had turned out cheerful and kind-hearted. Copy, raised by Dr. Wily, had turned out stubborn and mischievous. R-Shadow, raised by no one, had turned out cold and unforgiving.

Quint was probably the wildest of the four physically identical boys. Having been raised by Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, and no one, he had traits of all three boys show up from time to time.

* * *

**15. Death**

* * *

Everything was gone. He had no reason to live, and because of that, he had barely tried to defend himself, acting more on instinct than on conscious thought than anything else. He looked up into the near-identical visor above him, waiting. He was ready for it. If reincarnation existed for robots... perhaps his next life would be better.

R-Shadow paused for a moment, looking down at Quint, seeming surprised at something he saw in his expression. However, that fleeting moment of surprise disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

The saber came down.

* * *

**16. Jeans**

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He disliked jeans. They were... well, too blue for him. Ironic coming from somebody who would only wear blue for most of his life, but upon changing to green, he had disliked the blue color the majority of them came in.

It didn't help that the last thing he saw before being reprogrammed was a pair of jeans.

* * *

**17. Addiction**

* * *

They were addicted to each other. It was the only way to explain it. Both Rock and Quint enjoyed spending time with each other, though for different reasons. Rock was trying to make sure there were still joys in his life, no matter how far how old he became. Quint was trying to recapture his childhood. Sure, it was an addiction to themselves... but it was a good kind of addiction.

They would do everything possible in order to protect each other.

* * *

**18. Awkward Situation**

* * *

Rock seemed upset about something, and that worried Quint a lot. Whatever his younger self was worried about should be something that he was worried about, in his opinion. When Rock had refused to explain it to him, Quint had physically pinned the younger robot to the bed and sat on his stomach, trying to force him to explain everything. The younger robot had tried to escape his grip, but the other refused to let him go, moving closer to him.

Naturally, that would be the moment that Dr. Light walked in.

* * *

**19. Pockets**

* * *

Pockets were very useful, at times, as long as they weren't overstuffed. They couldn't hold very large things, but for Quint's purpose, they were some of the most useful things ever invented in his life. With pockets, he could snatch up bits and pieces of his old life and store them, keeping them safe.

Sure, he had accidentally overstuffed his pockets with things several times... but they were not overstuffed to the point of breaking. Quint dreaded the day that would happen.

* * *

**20. Friendship**

* * *

Many times, Quint valued his friendships with the Wilybots. Most of them didn't even know that he had once been Rock, the robot that they tried so hard to destroy, and Quint was content to let them remain blissfully ignorant. Even the Rockman Killers considered him an honarary member, a gesture which both flattered and worried Quint.

He had gotten to know all of them so well, and now he wasn't sure he wanted Rock to kill them over and over again anymore.

**

* * *

21. Mirror**

* * *

It was like looking inside a mirror, at times. A mirror that he shouldn't be able to touch, no matter how desperate he happened to be. When he first met Copy, it was staring at a mirror that reflected traits about himself that he never knew. When he met Quint, it was staring inside a mirror that reflected who he could become. When he met R-Shadow, it was staring at a mirror that showed what he happened to be responsible for.

He accidentally touched one of the mirrors, though, merging with it. And now he was no longer able to return from the mirror world.

* * *

**22. Hair**

* * *

Even Dr. Light admitted he didn't know why Rock's hair ended up the way it did. He claimed to have just given him a basic boys' hair style. Despite that, Quint still had trouble taming the mop on top of his head, though he was a lot better at it then he had been at his youth. Rock, and rarely even Copy, came to him to ask him to get the knots out of their hair.

He enjoyed playing with Rock and Copy's hair, even if the other two would frown at him for doing it. It was soft and slid through his fingers easily, and he had little trouble getting the knots out.

* * *

**23. Brick**

* * *

He was like a brick, he supposed. With all the accidental time traveling he had done, with all the listening he had done while he had been in the future time periods, it scared him to realize how influential his life had been. Without him, many of the people he had met would never exist. He had laid the brick foundations of the path that the planet would take, no matter how many people fought against it.

Why did people that simply just wanted to be the cement between bricks end up being the bricks themselves?

* * *

**24. Chartreuse**

* * *

Green. He had never thought he would end up enjoying that color so much, but he supposed that if the person "Quint" could even exist, it wasn't unusual that he would gain a new favorite color after his ordeal.

Once, Rock had asked him why Quint had changed his favorite color. The response? It was a way to differentiate them, to let people know that both of them existed instead of just one. Also, because the robot found chartreuse, the exact shade of green his armor was, a fun word to say.

* * *

**25. Chip**

* * *

As a robot, he was naturally made up of circuits and chips, and though most humans often failed to realize it, they were, too. When Quint first about the concept of a modchip, as Rock, he disliked them immediately. It wasn't until he met, and then became Quint, that he fully realized why he had never liked them. Modchips, installed by Dr. Wily, altered his programming permanently, changing him into a completely different person.

The damage from the modchips was done. It could never be repaired.


End file.
